Alternative Graduation

"A commencement ceremony organized entirely by undergraduates
and designed entirely for CRS grads."

Check back for updates on Alt-Grad progress and volunteer opportunities to get involved!

The CRS Alternative Graduation Ceremony, commonly referred to as the Alt-Grad, is a tradition within the Conservation & Resource Studies. Just as the students of CRS design and decide upon their own customized curricula, the Alt-Grad is organized entirely by and for each graduating CRS class. This makes it a dynamic event that is different every year, while consistently embodying the values that draw people to our unique and diverse major, fostering a sense of community and fellowship among the students of CRS.. Despite its name, the Alt-Grad does not overlap with or replace the formal campus-wide ceremony put on by the administration - students and family are free to attend both, but trust us when we say that the CRS Alt-Grad will be far more memorable, more personal, and more enjoyable. After all, UC Berkeley is an enormous institution that graduates thousands of students every year in almost every field and subject imaginable. In addition to the official paper diplomas distributed by the university, it is a tradition of the Alt-Grad to award Living Diplomas to the graduating class - these are saplings, hand-cultivated by the students of CRS, that represent the seeds of knowledge that each graduate carries within their fertile minds, which will grow alongside them into a lasting and powerful reminder of their experience in CRS.